What is the test for an application to set aside a contract where the husband alleges that the wife pressured him into signing the contract?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from Griffore v. Adsett, 2001 CanLII 28207 (ON SC):

The evidence does not satisfy me that the applicant has met this test. I find as a fact that the husband signed the contract voluntarily. He directed very little evidence towards the issue of whether or how the respondent pressured him into signing the contract. I conclude from his evidence that the applicant, knowing what the respondent was like, made his own decision to sign the contract, even while he believed the contract to be unfair to him. This does not amount to the same thing as her placing undue influence upon him, preying upon him, or in effect, dominating his decision-making capacity to the point where he did not sign the agreement in an exercise of free will. The evidence that he did give, namely, he thought she would try to get him out of the house and that she threatened to keep the children from him, falls short of the evidence required to meet the legal test. It is to be contrasted with the facts in the case of Bennett v. Bennett, (supra). In that case, the wife who sought to set aside the contract, complained of continuous controlling behaviour on the husband’s part, stated that she felt overpowered throughout much of their relationship, was unable to assert herself and feared and was intimidated by her husband. Further, she testified that she felt she had no choice but to sign the contract and this was confirmed by independent evidence that she was experiencing emotional distress which left her convinced that she had no choice but to sign the contract.

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